Crossed paths
by AspiringWriterGirl
Summary: It's a big world out there and Harley D. Swan is just one more person looking for a safe haven amongst the walker infected world, but what if she finds it? Will it all just be too good to be true?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of The Walking Dead world, only the new characters in this story and the plot

A/N: Right, this is a totally random story, and I'm pretty sure someone's going to be like "what the hell kind of a story is this?" but I have a tendency of doing this sort of story, because I love playing with the characters and their reactions

 **Chapter 01**

Harley Swan – that's me, the twenty three year old woman travelling across Georgia and Alabama in the hope of some safe haven from this world that my home had become. Why the name Harley? Because I was most likely conceived in the back storeroom of a Harley Davidson shop. Class act Mum and Dad- wherever you two are. Growing up, I never knew who they were – I had always thought that my foster parents were my biological parents, but they dropped that Parental-Bombshell when I was sixteen.

Seven years have passed since then and now I've come to find myself staring at a man across a patch of burning cinders that for all I knew, could have been my father.

He asked me to tell me my story, he had told me his so I should have to tell him mine… but what does it matter what my story is? I've lost so much and gained just about one thing, and that was more hope. Rather than be my usual stubborn self, I told him my story, so that someone else knew what had happened on the road for me.

I started when the walkers came to our town… Nearly two years ago, though it felt like even longer.

After I was told about my parents not being who I thought they were, I packed up my belongings and moved into the foster home that I spent the first few months of my life living in. The woman who ran it was ecstatic that I had come back, her name was Sarah. She let me have a job, food and a bed for as long as I needed. Everything I needed, she let me have. It was amazing to get to know kids that had a similar background to mine.

But that all changed when the walkers came to our town. We had seen a news report of them in Atlanta, but we never thought that they would make it back to our little town. My boss, Sarah, had made it clear what her plan was going to be if they came to our town. Her and I would get the children on the minibus that we had and drive it down to Miami in Florida, where one of her friends was a skipper. She just hoped that he would get us to the Bahamas – or anywhere away from the mainland.

I remember that day like it was yesterday.

 **That day**

"Harley! Harley fucking Swan – it's time! We have to move the kids now!" Sarah screamed up the stairs to me before calling out to the children to get their stuff packed into one bag and for the older ones to put to emergencies boxes onto the minibus.

 _This better not be a drill or something… I couldn't stand the pressure of the last one and buckled under the pressure._

I was out of bed in an instant, quickly grabbing the nearest outfit that was lying on the floor. "Flynn, wake up. Flynn, wake up! You have to get out of here!" Grabbing his arm, I forced him to sit up. "Come on!"

"How did you get so good at sex- I mean, that?" he asked, pulling me back down to the bed and kissing my neck. "When will I see you again?"

I sighed deeply. "No Flynn, that's not the arrangement we have, we aren't together like a couple anymore. It didn't work out, so that's why this whole thing is merely a casual arrangement and you made it clear that that was alright with you, and it's definitely alright with you. We're just… We're just friends."

"Harley Deryn Swan!" a scream echoed up the staircase.

"Does she know that that's not actually how you say your middle name? Deryn is not even remotely close to be honest." Flynn laughed softly, slowly climbing out of the bed. "Come on, leave them, it'll be fine."

"Flynn, no, I have to get the kids the safety, and you have to go check on your own family."

Admittedly, all I wanted to do was to climb back into bed with him and sleep for longer, but there were more important things to organise.

"I'll come find you," Flynn said, kissing my cheek and heading for the window.

Like a car slamming into a brick wall, it hit me that I might never see him again.

"Flynn," I whispered, throwing myself at him and kissing his mouth – our noses touching the whole time. "I don't want to leave you behind…"

He pulled away, resting his forehead on mine. "Harley, you have to go. These kids need you." He began to choke up but forced the words out. "Way more than I do."

"I know, but what about you?"

"Just, I'll be fine. Just read that book you always keep on at me to read – so when you read it, you can think of me." He stole one more kiss before stepping back, towards the window ledge, keeping eye contact with me. "Don't worry Harley, I'll come and find you – it'll be okay. I promise." He dropped out the window and I stood there in silence for a moment.

Lashing out, I kicked my wardrobe hard. Bracing myself against it, I could feel the stretch in my body.

The door to my room opened and in burst Sarah. "Come on Harley Swan, get your skinny arse moving, we plan to leave in fifteen minutes – and no later. The kids are loading up the minibus and the supplies are on board too so hustle your bustle… Now!" She turned to leave, but looked back over her shoulder. "He's a nice young man that Flynn, isn't he?"

I lurched for my own supply of food that I had hidden away in the drawers under my bed which I had sealed away in a Tupperware box. Pushing it to the bottom of my camping rucksack, I grabbed a couple of outfits for the journey, making sure that I had one for the warm temperatures, and another for the cold temperatures. Who knows how long I would have been on the road for…

Then I struggled to think of what else I would need, but none of it seemed necessary without heating or electricity, which I assumed would go eventually. I did grab the small handgun that my foster family had given to me on my eighteenth birthday, just before I moved out. The little penknife I bought when I went on a skiing holiday with school went inn the back pocket of my jeans. There was enough room in my bag for my poncho, my diary to keep track of what I'm doing and then a photo of me and Flynn that was hidden behind one of me as a baby. It was kept in a silver frame with an intricate carving etched into it.

"Come on kids, let's go!" I shouted, staggering down the stairs to see what the other kids were up to.

One of the older kids was still busy playing on some lame computer game without even considering packing his belongings away. So I did whatever was done to me when I was on my console too late. The power went off. So I unplugged the whole thing, much to his dismay.

"What the fuck did you do that for?"

"No!" I shouted, he was in for the biggest pep talk I could give in such short time. "You know what you little shit. Everyone around here has been wiping your scrawny little ass and practically bowing to your every command, but now it's time for you to give back to this sorry excuse of a building. Now you get your act together and get your stuff in a bag and get onto that minibus." I looked him square in the eye. "You look after those kids, okay?"

"HAR-LEY!" Sarah called out for me from the office.

Inside, it was dull and the wallpaper was peeling. There was a coffee stain on the wall that was a result of a child's outburst when we told him that the couple he had seen earlier that week weren't ready to adopt. Then there was the steel metallic cabinets that I had bought for five dollars off some street kid who was selling junk he had collected from a series of out of business offices. Originally he wanted fifteen for three, but I gave him stuff that he wanted and reduced it down to five.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Now Harley, I have some things that I believe belong to you. I had been meaning to give them to you when you were old enough, but your adoptive parents- Mr and Mrs Swan didn't want you to have any contact, or any letters or such from your biological mother, or your father I suppose… But now that everything has changed, I want to give this to you now, so that you can at least see it for yourself." Sarah held out a couple of letters, and a small parcel that had been wrapped in brown paper. "Here."

I snatched them from her grip. "Hang on. I've been here nearly three years, what the hell were you playing at?" Irritated, I turned away. "Get the kids on the bus – that's our main priority."

Squatting down beside the cabinet, I opened the bottom drawer and pulled out my slim file, slipping it down the back of my rucksack.

"What are you taking that for?" she asked, opening the door to the office and looking back at me.

"Who knows? Maybe some light reading?" I replied sarcastically.

 _Reading – I never picked up the book Flynn told me to read…_

I darted back upstairs to find the book, but it wasn't on my bookshelf. Frantically throwing the books to either side of my room, I admitted defeat and grabbed the first one I could see. It was clearly a book that hadn't seen a pair of eyes in many years from the layer of dust that decorated the cover and back of it. Stuffing it into my bag, I admitted defeat on finding the book that Flynn told me to read so that I would think of him.

A car horn startled me and made me look out the window. The children were throwing their bags into the minibus and I knew that in less than five minutes, that minibus would be gone. On its way to Miami. Even though I had always wanted to go to Miami, it was not in these circumstances.

Jumping down the stairs, I tripped into the wall and was out the front door in record time.

"Do we have everyone?" I asked, but the children seemed uncertain so I called out names. "Giselle… Oscar… Jeanelle, Jeanelle… Okay, come on guys, I need to hear who we have and don't have. Justin? Maya…" Each one eventually replied, until I got to the penultimate name. "Alexandria… Where is she? Where is Alexandria? Has anyone seen Alexandria?"

The children shook their heads in synchronicity.

Our youngest girl, Cora, suddenly screamed at the top of her voice, pointing at something that was outside of the minibus.

Walking towards us, was a crowd of about ten walkers. And that was ten too many for my liking.

"Stay inside the minibus," I said sternly, slamming the door shut. "I will go and look for Alexandria."

The lady I called my boss turned the key in the ignition, starting the engine and nodding slowly. There were two seats left in the front for us, but I knew exactly where Alexandria would be. She would be up in the treehouse that had been constructed in the back garden by Flynn for the boys- and girls – that lived in the home.

Vaulting over the white picket fence, I stumbled over the uneven lawn towards the treehouse when I saw two undead clawing at the bark below the treehouse. Looking up, I could see the missing girl crouched at the top with her hands covering her ears like she was wishing it to all go away.

 _What in fucking hell's name do I do? I got to use my gun, right?_

My trembling hands shook uncontrollably as the two walkers turned and saw me. The gun fell out its holster and hit the ground. I dropped to the floor, hearing the hoarse vocalisations getting nearer and nearer. Fumbling with the gun, I held it up and without even stopping to check my aim, I squeezed the trigger twice.

Something wet spattered my face and moments later, the two walkers fell flat onto me and I screamed out. I knew that the shots had missed so part of me was bracing myself for pain and death. I was about to die and feel teeth sinking into my neck and ripping one of my arteries apart.

Stop screaming.

It was like I could hear a voice in my head. Opening my eyes, I flinched to see the walker's cloudy eyes staring blankly right back at me.

"Better get used to that," I muttered, shrugging the corpses off me. "Alexandria!" I called out, gritting my teeth.

The little girl leaned over the edge and looked down at me. "Har-har, Harley?" she whimpered.

"Come on sweetie, we have to go." I reached out for her. "I'll take care of you, don't worry…"

Cautiously, she climbed down the ladder that had been nailed to the tree. Another car horn made me pull her back towards the house, past the two walker corpses I had left. Those two shots were probably the luckiest shots in the world and I felt like an angel was watching over me for that.

"But what about my stuff?" Alexandria cried out, pulling away from me, but I tightened my grip.

"There's no time, Alexa-"

"I want Teddy!" she squealed.

A gunshot made me pick her up and drop her over the fence that was only waist height, telling her to go to the minibus immediately.

"It's going… Harley, it's going!" Alexandria burst into tears.

 _She can't be right, there's no way-_

When I got to the front of the house, I was shocked to see the minibus driving away with screeching tyres, fighting the walkers off as they tried to get into the vehicle. I couldn't understand why she would do that? The woman who said that she loved me the first time she laid eyes on me was now abandoning me in the centre of a walker grove.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I cursed. "Alexandria, come with me. We're going to go on an adventure…"

There was a reason I didn't say something like 'I promise that we will see that again,' and that's because I didn't think I ever would. Deep down, I had to stick to my guts and not break my one personal life rule. Don't make promises that you aren't sure about. So I didn't promise Alexandria that so that it did

I took her hand and pull her swiftly down the road in the direction the walkers had just come in.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Somewhere good, where it's pretty and there are no walkers. There'll be a beach and the seaside – I know you've always wanted to go to the sea… So that's where we'll go."

"Okay. Are you going to protect us?" Alexandria asked.

"Of course – I'll be your big sister, but only if you be my little sister, okay?"

"Promise…"

That night, we stayed at the care home, and I opened the letters from my parents. Well, they were really from my mother.

 _My little baby girl, Harley- I hope that's what they call you at the home. I'm sure you'll be much older, and certainly more beautiful when you come to read this letter._

 _But there is one thing I want you to know before I continue, I love you unconditionally. I gave birth to you on a freak snow day in April and you were so tiny and fragile. You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and held in my life. They told me I shouldn't get attached or hold you, but I had to hold you just one time. You had quite the pair of lungs I tell you that. Even when the adoption agency carried you away, I could hear you even as they left the building. I'll never forget hearing you cry._

 _It brought the reality of being a mother, for days and days after your birthday, I cried. Cried because throughout my pregnancy, I was in a difficult state- I wasn't well, but bringing you into the world really helped me get better._

 _Every time your birthday came around, I thought about you. Please don't hate me for giving you up – I was incredibly young and I gave you up because of the love I had for you. If there was a way I could have taken care of you properly, then I would have done it. Definitely. It was the hardest decision._

 _You will always be in my thoughts, every single day. I know that you would get a better start in life if you were in a stable situation. I want you to have had the best life imaginable._

 _Deep down, I hope that you will be able to forgive me for what kind of a life- for giving you up. I will understand if you don't._

 _I love you, and will love you forever, to eternity and back._

 _I guess I can sign this off as something I never thought I'd be able to say,_

 _Mum X_

The other letters told me how sorry she was, and how stupid she was. The parcel contained a dog tag and two rings on it. The dog tag belonged to my mother's father who was some high ranking naval officer. One of the rings was from my mother, it was a silver ring that liked like a loose hair plait. The other ring was apparently from my father, it was the only thing Mum had kept from him. It was divided into three strips with the middle one being a plait – like Mum's ring. Even if, in her words, "it was just one night of rigorous passion that bore me you…" Regardless of that thought, I wore it all the time and it kept me going. Not once did I give up when I was wearing it.

"That's horseshit…" the man listening to my story muttered.

"Oh but I shit you not," I retorted calmly. "These are the rings to prove it." My hand fastened itself around the chain by my neck, pulling on it hard. "Catch."

The chain flew through the air and was caught in the man's hand. His fingers traced the rings and it was like he saw something he recognised, but it was probably just a ring that he had seen somewhere else in the past.

"So what happened to that kid- Alexandria?"

"A lot of stuff happened before then – and like you found your group, I found one part of mine."

 **Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Once again, I'm writing for another The Walking Dead story, and it's a really interesting one to write about, just because it's such a versatile subject, but I hope you liked this story and come back for the next chapter**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of The Walking Dead world, only the new characters in this story and the plot

A/N: Right, let's carry on this little AU story- is it an AU, I don't know, I think so?

 **Chapter 02**

"So how did you learn to cope with this world?" I asked him, poking our fire with a short stick that had fallen from a nearby maple tree.

He rolled his eyes, reaching for his chosen weapon slowly.

I remembered the first time I saw that weapon, it was being pointed right at me as I washed my face in a river. In a split second, he could have killed me, but he didn't.

He got up without saying a word and start walking away – walking away into the woods, and even further away from my new group's make shift camp. These guys were welcoming to a certain extent, but they were so doubtful of me whenever I offered to help or do something. Even when they trusted me to do one thing, I always felt like I was being watched.

Inside, my heart was screaming out to stop him from walking away so that I could hear more of his stories. Because, out there, danger was looming and I knew it was there after an event that took place just under two weeks ago when I was approached as I was trying to fish in a small river that was too deep to cross, a few kilometres from the campsite that had been created.

A guy appeared by the water's edge, just across the river, he spoke to me as I froze in fear. He said he knew where Flynn was. He told me that if I didn't tell them about the campsite I had come from, that they would surely slit Flynn's throat and enjoy a cup of his fresh blood. Having not seen Flynn for some time, I agreed to tell him what I knew. I had left notes in the hole of a large tree by the river and whenever I returned to it, I found something of Flynn's meaning that this guy meant what he said. They definitely had Flynn.

But that was just one event that was part of a string of events that led up to this one. I want to start with what happened before this, when it was just me and Alexandria on the road. A few months on the road made me toughen up and learn a little more about myself. Whilst Alexandria never got to grips with taking the life of a walker and refused to do so, but I knew that she would when she needed to- or at least I hoped so.

On the road again.

We had been on the road for months now. Not a soul had passed us by, not a living and breathing human being- but we had certainly seen many walkers though.

So much had happened since Alexandria and I left the care home, but Flynn hadn't found me, even though he promised me that he would. I tortured myself about this, thinking that I was just another girl for him to sleep with. No matter what he had said, I told myself he was only saying what I wanted to hear, but I couldn't ignore my strong feelings for him.

I was beginning to feel like it was love I was feeling for him, and not just a crush or affection.

Regardless, I felt the urge to survive so that I could give Alexandria the best life. I was responsible for her now that Sarah had freaking abandoned us and I had to put her first now. Many people would probably argue that it was stupid of me to even think about taking her with me, or going to look for her, but the is just the person that I had learnt to be.

Within the first few months, I had grown much more ruthless. My first kill had always stuck in my head- and it wasn't even somebody I knew. The more I learnt about this world, the harder I felt it would be to put a bullet through the brain of someone- anyone – to stop reanimation.

Alexandria took a while to accept that Sarah wasn't going to find us and that we were on our own. This just put an incredible strain on me, because there were times where I wasn't sure what to do.

But I had daily plans, and that was a start. At night, we would stay in the attic of a house and pull the ladder up so that there was no way a walker could get to us. Not that walkers had a habit of climbing ladders, but there were always going to be bad people on the road and I would rather be on the safe side. With the ladder up, it meant that I was able to sleep. Whenever we had slept outside, Alexandria didn't like me going to sleep for fear of me dying in my sleep, and she was too young to be relied on to do a night's watch. That would have been unfair of me. She found it unfair that I forced her to keep a weapon on her.

The whole process of living in this world overwhelmed me at some points. I learnt everything I did through the book I had grabbed when I couldn't find the Flynn book. _The Road_ by Cormac McCarthy. The school tried to make me read it as part of further reading, but I could not be bothered to. But in these circumstances, it was the only book I had with me, and to be honest, it was a total godsend that had taught me how to survive in a world that was so reminiscent of the book's. Though I hoped to God that I never came across bandits, or thieves with guns that would take everything we had. That's what tended to happen to the man and his son in the book, a lot. I wondered whether I could handle that if it happened to us, but I tried not to focus on that.

One night, on a small town that was on the state border of Georgia, another person joined Alex and I.

I was awoken late one night to a cold hand patting my shoulder.

 _Really…_

"Harley? Harley?" Alex continued to poke my arm sharply. "I know you're awake- your eyes are doing that weird flittering about thing."

I grunted. "What is it, Alex?"

She pointed at the attic door, shuffling even closer to me. "Someone's in the house. I know they are. I heard them."

My shoulders shrugged inadvertently and lying back down to go to sleep, only to bolt back upright at the sound of shattering china. "Someone's in the house…"

"Like I said!" she whimpered in a quiet, high pitched voice.

I jumped to my feet and navigated my way around the abandoned comic books and old toys. The wooden rocking horse that was swaying back and forth blocked my way. Every horror film I could think of always seemed to involve one, but I bravely stepped over the little toy and crept towards the attic door. The occasional creep underfoot made me freeze, but our intruder seemed to make more noise so I didn't worry too much about it.

"Harley?"

I pressed a finger to my lips and directed her to hide behind the boxes in the corner. When she was out of sight, my fingers began to trace the gun in the holster I had attached to my belt. Closing my eyes, I listened hard.

Footsteps, creaking staircase. They were practically right below me and I daren't move in case I touched a creaky floorboard, of which there were plenty in this attic. There was a click as our intruder pulled on the dangling cord that gave access to the attic.

I knew I should have pulled it in as much as I could.

"Har-"

"Ssh!" I snapped abruptly before she could even finish my name and pulled my gun out its holster.

I crouched down watching the door drop down against the wall below. Even my breathing had slowed considerably as the tense moments filled the air. I watched the ladder get pulled down and waited to see who was in the house. My trigger finger was beginning to wake up and rested itself in its right place. Ready to fire. Another creak and the ladder was being scaled. Just another moment to prepare myself.

As they climbed the ladder, I watched the back of their hair come into view. Tousled, slightly curly short brown hair came into view. Hair that I could imagine winding my fingers around. That thought sent my brain into motion and I couldn't control my mind as memories raced about in my head.

I froze and dropped my gun. A gasp escaped my lips and I snapped, "Freeze!"

"Harley- is that you, Harley?" a calm, cool voice replied. A voice that was low and masculine, one that I recognised like the back of my own hand.

"Flynn?" I side stepped around the trap door and was filled with joy when I saw that it really was him. "Flynn!"

I practically pulled him up the ladder and threw my arms around him, holding him so tightly that I never wanted to let him go, he said he would find me, and he did. Though the odds were entirely against us in terms of finding each other, I didn't care. He really did keep his promise. Every smidge of doubt had been obliterated and incinerated in my mind. I was glad that I hadn't given up on him yet.

Tears were streaming off my face as I entwined my hands into his hair – his hair was one of the things that I loved about him. It was fairly short, but it was so easy to mess with and it would keep that shape.

Feelings of joy were flowing through me like the waves lapping up at the shores of Santa Monica Bay. I was so pleased to see him again. All the time we had spent together over the past two years and the recent time we had spent apart, it had made me gradually realise something.

That I didn't just want to hook up with him whenever it suited one of us or we needed a pick me up.

I had these genuine feelings for him. Feelings of love.

"I'm so glad you found us…" I whispered, tucking my chin over his shoulder. "Flynn, I can't tell you how pleased I am."

"Harley – I would never give up on you. I tried to follow you the whole time, just trying to catch up to you in any way I could. Admittedly I had my methods, but you gave me the strength to carry on. All I wanted to do was to hold you again. To hold your hand and feel a closeness to someone- no, to you. It's not the same with others, but it had to be you. Because we are so much more than just friends with benefits."

"It's true…" I agreed.

"Who is he, Harley?" Alex asked, peering around the boxes she was hiding behind. She rubbed her eyes and awkwardly picked up my gun, holding it like it was a dead rat.

"This is Flynn – he's a close friend of mine…" I replied, holding my hand out for the gun.

"Is he your boyfriend or something?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow as she placed the gun in my hand.

"No, he's not," I retaliated, stooping to her level a little.

Flynn interrupted before I could take it even further. "Why not? I thought we just shared a moment there… I mean, as Alex can see, she clearly thinks we are more than just friends, and she's clearly a smart kid too. Come on, we're basically already together… Yes Alex, I am her boyfriend."

She grinned from ear to ear. "I knew it! I knew it! Are you going to come with us from now on?"

Before I could even say anything, Flynn said the right thing.

"I didn't search the whole state trying to find Harley for me to turn around and say, I don't want to come with you guys. I'm off to find Alexandria…"

"But I'm right here, Flynn. Why would you want to try and find me?"

My hand squeezed Alex's. "He means the place. It's in Alabama." I looked deep into Alex's eyes. "I need to ask you something. And I have to because you are what is important at this point, but I need to know if you're okay that Flynn come with me and you?"

"Of course – I've always wanted an older brother. When I was younger, I remember an older brother looking after me- but that was before I was taken into care to live with Sarah and the other kids." Alex froze at the mentioning of the other children and Sarah. "What's going to happen to us?"

Flynn and I looked at each other – we were both clearly hoping that the other would know exactly what to say, but what I wanted to say definitely was not the right thing to say.

" _Well Alexandria, there- well I don't know what's going to happen to us. I think I'm going to get bitten trying to save your life meaning you will have to stop me from being reanimated. As for Flynn, it's possible that he'll give up, it's possible that he might already be dead by then, he might even ditch us… If we head to Flynn's safe haven, then perhaps it'll be okay and safe from the walkers."_

I didn't really say anything. I couldn't. The hard exterior I had developed meant I would say harsh comments, or not have many barriers when caught in a situation like this one, so I avoided them. The next morning, Flynn cooked us a tin of baked beans. He told us his journey across Georgia to find us, and it sounded incredibly unbelievable to hear, but I didn't really care. Flynn was here with me, and that's what mattered most at the moment. Baked beans were such an unusual breakfast to have, because in the walker world we called home, people took to hoarding cupboards and ransacking supermarkets, so anything that was deemed a normal product before, became a luxury. Never did I ever think that baked beans would become a luxury.

"Oh yeah…" I moaned, running my finger around the rim of the floral patterned bowl that I had found downstairs in the kitchen. "It's so good to have a full breakfast."

Alex was quick to snipe at me. "Are you kidding me, Harley? This is incredible! It beats nasty stale bread and a smear of a suspicious looking spread any day."

I stood up and went over to the attic window and looked out through the thing pane of glass. It was covered in cobwebs and had a small crack in the bottom. In the street below, the dead leaves dragged themselves along the road as the wind pulled them along. The bare trees swayed in the wind making me feel as though it was going to be rather chilly outside. From the perspective the windows gave me, there were no walkers on the street so it looked as though we would be able to keep carrying on.

"Okay kids, let's get going," I said cheerfully, grabbing my rucksack off the floor and kicking the attic door down. "Woops – oh well, no one's going to be coming back anytime soon. Come on Alex."

"I don't want to!" she groaned, refusing to get up off the floor. "We've been walking for days and we haven't stopped since we camped out at that reservoir. Even then, it was barely a full day that we spent there. Please. I don't want to."

Anger and frustration was building up in me, I could so easily carry on with Flynn. Me and Flynn would survive easily, we were savvy and knew how to look out for one another. My mind began to race with thoughts about me and Flynn. How we could do fine together, and maybe get married. Marriage… I hadn't thought about romance in so long, how would I get married now? There weren't that many ministers in a walker world that weren't already reanimated so the thought never crossed my mind. Until now.

"Well the choice is yours, Alex. If you want to stay here, then that is fine with me, or you can come with me and Flynn. Come on Flynn." I ushered my companion down the ladder and then took one last look at Alex. "It's your choice."

Before waiting for her to move, Flynn and I walked straight out of the house, passing the family photos and landscape paintings. It was weird hen I thought about staying in a person's house when they weren't there, or thinking about what had become of those who lived in the house.

"Are you sure you're willing to leave her behind like that?" Flynn said, turning back to look at the house.

I started to walk down the street. "It's her choice…" I mumbled.

"But what if she dies? After all the work you've put in to keeping her alive, is it really worth leaving her behind. Come on Harley, it's not like you to do that…"

"Flynn, it's not fair!" I snapped, turning around and practically bumping into him. "I never asked to take her with me, I just felt the need to because she had no one else, because I had taken care of her and the other kids in the past. Not once did I ever get credit, or even a thank you. She needs to see what happens without me…"

"Wait!"

Alex had come running out of the house, with her rucksack trailing along the ground. She was out of breath by the time she got to us, but all she did was throw her arms around me, knotting her fingers around my jumper.

"I'm sorry Harley. Thank you for everything you do to help me. In the future, I'll try and be more like you, because I want to be more like you."

"Okay then Alex," I said, putting my arm around the young girl and my boyfriend. "On the road again."

We walked a long way over the next few weeks, managing to loot a supermarket for additional food and ammunition for the guns Flynn and I had acquired. It was an intense experience and one that had threatened Alex's life one too many times, so I promised myself that I wouldn't let her in the places we looted, that she would just be safer tucked away in a dumpster.

Until we encountered three rag tag looters.

Flynn and I were in a small café. It was dinky and had tattered red gingham tablecloths on little wood tables. The counter class was smashed and the original cakes had been taken, and the initial supply had been taken. Then there was the drinks machine lying broken on the floor. It was interesting to note that the cash register was still full of ten and twenty dollar bills, so I decided to help myself to one. Why not? Money and riches were beginning to lose their value in this world.

"Harley, there's a freezer back here… Come help me open it." Flynn waved me over.

Stepping over all the random rubbish in the café, I joined him beside a metal sliding door. We pressed our hands against the side and leant into the freezer door to make it budge.

The faintest grunt startled me and a hand shot out of the freezer and grabbed Flynn's neck loosely. It was a walker, a frozen walker that had been trapped in the freezer.

"Harley!" Flynn gasped, planting a hand on the walker's face and wrenching it to one side in the hope of snapping it.

"Flynn!" I screamed, leaning all my weight into the door a

s he fought the walker away.

Though it would have been easier for me to embed a bullet in the walker's brain, but there were two issues at hand. One being that Flynn and I had promised to use our bullets sparingly. The other that Alex had my gun whilst we looted the café.

A scream from outside forced me to stop what I was doing.

"Alex – she's in trouble!"

 _What do I do? Flynn needs my help, but so does Alex?_

I bundled myself into Flynn making the three of us fall to the floor. "Get away from my boyfriend!" I squealed, flexing my leg out at a sharp angle. My baseball boot connected with the walker's face, stunning it so much that Flynn was able to smack a loose plank of wood across it.

The walker crumbled to the floor beside us, but I forced myself to shove another loose plank through its head to stop reanimation in its tracks.

"Quick – Alex needs us!" I said, barely even catching my breath.

Another scream for my help, a scream of urgency.

Stumbling through the café, I broke a plate that had some old burnt bacon encrusted on the rim. It was as if I didn't care about making a noise when Alex needed me. I stopped just as I had stepped outside in total disbelief.

"Don't hurt her!" I called out, feeling Flynn bump right into me.

Standing across the road, was a man holding a knife to Alex's throat. He was a ragged looking man who had been on the road for a long time with barely any supplies, or even a hoodie to wear. His eyes were cold and empty, his nose was broken and crooked, leaning to one side.

"Hand over everything you have!" he shouted angrily. "Or the girl gets it!" The knife was pressing itself against Alex's neck, but not enough to cut her skin. "Come on, I know you've got food, water and guns. Give them to me now!" It was clear that this was the first time that he had held someone to ransom.

"How do you want this to go down then?" Flynn yelled, trying to annoy the man. "Think about the details now…"

"I want you to send the lady over with your two rucksacks. Then she'll- then she will go back to you. Only then, will I release the kid. I'll take your stuff and you won't follow me… If you do, you'll be shot on- at. Shot at…"

"I think he's bluffing…" Flynn whispered in my ear. "He's not going to hurt Alex."

"Flynn, I can't take this risk-"

"Decision time, mate!" the knife wielding ruffian snapped.

"Alright, alright…" I said hastily, walking slowly across the street towards them, until he told me that was far enough. "Okay, there's our rucksacks, and the girl has my gun," I added slowly.

"What?" he growled, shaking Alex roughly. It was obvious that he didn't know that Alex had my gun. His hand dug into her shoulders making her scream out. The man threw her against the grass verge beside the street and dived into her rucksack to pull out the gun.

I had already started to run towards Alex, but when the gun was in the guy's hands, he pulled it on me.

"I don't think so!" he shouted loudly.

Flynn called out to me in a tone that was trying to warn me of something, and it wasn't just the fact there was a gun being pointed at me. Slowly, I turned my head to look back at him, and I saw the walkers.

The man swore loudly, and looked panicked and nervous all of a sudden when he saw them.

There was a large cluster of them not two houses down from us. My brain went into overdrive as I wondered what to do next.

Alex was crying on the floor – I needed to protect her.

There were walkers limping over my way – they needed to be stopped or killed.

Flynn stood by the café's entrance, trying to figure out for himself what he was going to do.

The man was frantic, also in confusion about what he was going to do – help us, kill us, take our stuff, or hurt Alex for our cooperation.

A decision was made.

A gunshot echoed through the town as a bullet tore through the air, embedding itself in its intended victim, making me crack.

 **Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = so this story has sort of turned into two separate stories, and I'm leaving behind the one with Harley and her father and their camp, so I can focus on the run up to those moments – hope you're enjoying this story and feel free to let me know!**


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